Chapter 1
Beastman Job Agency.
A place where all beastmen visit at least once to find a job.
Today again, I was raising my voice at the beastman job agency.
“You’re a sparrow?”
“Yes!”
“A sparrow? Among herbivorous beastmen, you’re neither fast at running nor meticulous in action, and you shed a lot of fur. Why should I introduce a job to a sparrow who constantly complains at the agency?”
“Well, what you said is true. Sparrows have that image. But I canāt guarantee Iāll be the same as others, right?”
Confidently, I brushed aside my falling side bangs and puffed out my chest.
But.
“You can’t guarantee you’d be different?”
“…No. Look at this. My graduation certificate. Iām the top graduate from the Beastman Academy. There’s no way someone like me could be like the other sparrows. Sure, sparrows have a bad reputation, but I’m different. Iām different!”
The agency owner didnāt even bother to look at the certificate I handed over and casually waved it aside.
“Beastman Academy? Anyone can get in as long as they pay.”
I was speechless for a moment.
“Isn’t that true?”
“No, itās not! There have been rumors, but thatās not the case with me!”
“Donāt be like that, Miss Sparrow. Why donāt you use your cuteness to your advantage? Sparrows have become so rare, you could sell your face for money. How about it, Miss? If you want, I can introduce you to such a position, a hundred or a thousand times.”
“No! Iām not doing that!”
Anger boiled up inside me. Since the past, sparrows had been kidnapped even by their own kind just for being cute. They were reduced to ornamental use, their reputations tarnished, and the number of sparrows had drastically decreased.
“Why? Itās hard to find sparrows lately, so they sell for a high price. Iām not asking you to sell your body, just your cuteness. How easy. Go to those who want a sparrow, spread your wings, and shake your tail feathers. Youād be loved and earn money. And your little black fur on your forehead is so unique. You could get 1.2 times more than the others.”
“I absolutely wonāt do it!”
I glared at the agency owner, knowing well that it was all because of our cuteness that sparrows had been subjected to such things.
“Ah, so cute. You think Iāll be scared of that?”
“ā¦ā¦.”
“Cute little sparrow. Isnāt this an easy world? Just because you were born cute, you can earn money.”
It was clear that he couldnāt be reasoned with.
“Fine, you can keep selling whatever you want. Oh wait, nobodyās going to buy from you because you’re not cute.”
“Ha ha, you donāt have the cuteness of a sparrow. But still, the world is so easy. Iād love to be born a sparrow. If you’re fat, they think you’re cute. If youāre small, they think youāre cute. What a bunch of foolish sparrows.”
I tried to hold back, but after hearing him insult my kind, I finally turned and stormed out of the agency.
The agency owner called me out as I left, but that was the end of it.
“Cute? Use my cuteness to win? Ridiculous. Iām not an ornament! If I were, I wouldnāt have worked so hard to be top of my class at the academy!”
I glared at the agency and, grinding my teeth, turned away to walk off.
“Ughā¦ How many times has this been? I thought Iād get a job easily after graduating from the academy.”
Even though I tried not to, a deep sigh escaped me.
It had already been a year since I graduated from the academy. And I still hadnāt found a job.
I had the prestigious top graduate certificate, yet I was unemployed. Unemployed!
“I need to make money.”
Clutching my crumpled graduation certificate, I held it high and trembled in frustration.
‘This was all a lie!’
They said if you graduate from the Beastman Academy, jobs would come to you easily, but that wasnāt true at all.
“Well, even if it wasn’t, I would have ended up at that place anyway.”
It was what my mother wanted. She wanted me to become someone who could live as a full human. Thatās why I came to the Beastman Academy.
“If I donāt do something, Iāll never be able to save Mom. I have to make a lot of money. I have to, Swallow. I need to. My mom is in that state because of me.”
My mother was imprisoned in the Elder Councilās underground prison just because she gave birth to me, a sparrow.
Before she was imprisoned, she was constantly mocked and scorned by other sparrows, so I could only imagine the treatment she was receiving in prison.
‘I canāt leave her like this.’
This all started because of a prophecy.
Surprisingly, even among beastmen, some believed in the gods to an extreme, and sparrows were one of those races.
The prophecy said that the sparrow inside my mother would elevate the sparrow raceās reputation in the world.
“Elevate, huh.”
But I wasnāt happy about it. I had no special powers, and unlike beastmen who could turn human in three years, I still couldnāt become human even after ten years.
Thatās why my mother was imprisoned. She gave birth to a failure. She ruined the prophecy.
And now, I needed money to save her.
By the time I turned 11, I had successfully become human, but the Elder Council still didnāt recognize me. They still treated me like a failure, and another prophecy was given, turning their backs on both me and my mother.
‘Iāll save her. I will.’
The only reason I wanted to make money was to save the one person who always loved me, my mother.
My childhood friend and the leader of the Elder Councilās son, Hertz, promised me that if I paid him, he would secretly release my mother.
But today, I was still unemployed.
‘Should I really act cute as a sparrow somewhereā¦’
No. That would be my last shred of dignityā¦
At that moment.
“Hehehe! Whatās this?”
A piece of paper flew and landed on my face.
I truly had no luck, or maybe it was because I was a sparrow. Now even trash was flying in my face.
“Ugh!”
In frustration, I pulled the paper off. As I was about to crumple it, the contents were crystal clear.
“A 5-year-old boy. Herbivorous beastman tutor needed. Weekly salary: 10 gold coins.”
I belatedly realized I was standing in front of a bulletin board with job postings and quickly examined the paper again.
‘Tutor?’
That wasnāt even the important part. Weekly pay: 10 gold coins! Hertz had promised me that if I paid 300 gold coins, he would free my mom. That meant with a salary of 40 gold coins a month, I could save her in 8 months!
This salary was ridiculously high.
“Oops. Sorry, miss.”
The worker who had been posting the notices seemed to notice that a piece of paper flew to me and quickly came over to apologize.
“This one.”
“Huh?”
“This! Where do I go to apply?”
“Huh?”
I quickly handed the paper to the worker.
“Ha, ha?”
The worker seemed surprised for some reason, but this wasnāt the time for me to be picky. Even if I had to walk straight into the mouth of a predator, I had to go. I had to for my mom.
“Yes! Where do I go?”
“We just posted it as the last noticeā¦ Would you like to come with me?”
“Yes! Iāll go! Thank you.”
With a bright smile, I quickly unfolded the crumpled paper.
‘God hasnāt abandoned me.’
Not long after, the workers finished their work, and they placed me on a wagon. They asked if I was sure it was okay, and while some discomfort crept in, there was nothing odd in the posting.
Of course, I noticed the lack of a family name on the notice, which was very suspicious, but I hadnāt agreed to go blindly.
‘Theyāre not going to sell me. The workers are wearing expensive clothes. That means they work for a wealthy family, right? Many families provide clothes for their servants to uphold their family name.’
